<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>A Game of Life by Ceeya (ceeya)</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26779900">A Game of Life</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceeya/pseuds/Ceeya'>Ceeya (ceeya)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Child!Ino, Child!Sakura, Child!Shikamaru, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Plot What Plot, We will uncover this mystery, along with the characters, even to the author, kids being kids, the plot is unknown, while the adults grapple with village shenanigans</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:00:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,042</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26779900</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceeya/pseuds/Ceeya</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Shikamaru had met Sakura through Ino. And life goes on from there.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Haruno Sakura/Nara Shikamaru</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>178</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. First Impressions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiteblossom/gifts">whiteblossom</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Sakura stumbled along as she tried to match Ino’s stride, her hand being pulled by the blonde. She wanted a bit of time to catch her breath but Ino had just saved her from the bullies, she didn’t want to make her new friend angry.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They had already left the playground and we're heading towards a forested area. Sakura started to get concerned. Mama told her not to go too far from the village center.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ino-san,” she gasped out hesitantly, “where are-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We're close!” Her friend turned to her with a bright grin, her baby blue eyes almost turning green as the shade of the leaves blocked out the midday sun. “My friends didn't want to go to the playground because there were too many people but I have to stay with them or else my dad will get angry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino continued with her complaints as they continued through the thick trees. A few steps later and rays of sunlight were visible, then they emerged to see a vast open plain dotted with enormous trees.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura looked back and then around her surroundings. The area was bracketed by forests all around with a giant looming mountain straight ahead. She would have loved the scenery, except there was something dark about it. It was currently noon and back where they came from, the sun was like a beacon that blazed above them. But here, the sun was muted, as though the area was absorbing that light, allowing only a smidge to remain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“CHOUJI! SHIKA!” Sakura snapped her head to see who her new friend hollered at. She had to squint a bit to see the two boys resting underneath the set of trees.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>One of them was sitting with his back behind the trunk, the circles on his cheeks moving as he bit into another chip. The other one was lying on the grass, with his hands behind his neck as he lounged about.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Chouji turned to face them as they drew nearer and raised a chip-holding hand in greeting, questioning eyes moving towards Sakura when he realized that their childhood friend was not alone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He blinked a few times and then nudged their lazy friend awake with his foot. It was rare that anyone outside of their families were allowed into the Nara forest. Shikamaru might need to do something about this. And he didn't want to be the only one having to entertain Ino.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the time Shikamaru opened his eyes, Ino and Sakura had already reached them and the blond was already preparing the rant of the lazy ass about not returning her greeting and not even getting up until he was forced to. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shikamaru sat up with a sigh that turned into a yawn, one hand reaching up to scratch his tied hair. As he ignored Ino’s spiel - it was nothing new anyway, her speeches tended to repeat themselves every two weeks - he opened one eye to glance sideways at the new joiner. If it wasn't for Ino holding onto her, he would have rubbed his eyes in confusion. Pink hair </span>
  <em>
    <span>with </span>
  </em>
  <span>green eyes? That was rare. She looked almost like that cherry blossom painting his mother wanted to buy during the Spring festival.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Who is she, Ino?” Chouji broke the girl's tirade at the blunt question. If they let her continue, they'd be here till dinner time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino stopped mid-word and turned back to look at the new focus of the conversation. Feeling three sets of eyes upon her, Sakura took a step back and twiddled with her thumbs, her shoulders slumping and hiding her face in a curtain of pink.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is Sakura!” Ino took the reins in introducing them to each other. “I met her at the park and we're now friends so you have to be nice to her!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura!” The blonde turned to face the shy girl, “This is Chouji and the lazy one is Shikamaru. Tell me if they're mean to you and I'll teach them a lesson, okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura stammered out a greeting as she peeked up from at them, feeling a blush spread across her cheeks at the attention. Chouji had responded with a friendly smile and a raised hand, but Shikamaru barely moved.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura? Not really original, huh.” He stated bluntly, eyes moving up to stare at hair. Chouji, sitting beside him, just sighed and shook his head, bracing himself for the explosion.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino’s face had darkened in anger when Sakura flinched at the comment. She took a deep breath and then started yelling at the boy about being rude and insensitive and how he was going to be in so much trouble when Aunt Yoshino hears about this.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura, not wanting to be the cause of the two friends fighting, pulled Ino back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It's okay.” She mumbled, unwilling to look at either of them in the face, “I mean, it is true.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don't listen to him, Sakura. Your name is pretty, just like your hair.” She reached out to shake her friend a bit, smiling when Sakura met her eyes. “And remember, you have to look up. No more hiding. That's what the ribbon is for!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura drew up a bit at the encouragement and gave a quick nod, returning the blonde's grin with a shy one of her own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Behind them, Chouji nudged Shikamaru, who was ready to go back to sleep.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?!” Shikamaru complained, causing the two girls to also look at them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Apologize.” The plump boy ordered as he took another chip from his bag.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah! Apologize!” Ino immediately rallied against Shikamaru, enthused at the knowledge that she had an ally.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright! Alright! Sheesh.” With Chouji continuing to nudge him and Ino screaming at his ear, Shikamaru finally gave in, grumbling all the while.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looked back up at Sakura, eyes narrowed as he examined her. Sakura, on the other hand, felt really self conscious at the state and shuffled her feet, forcing herself not to look back down. Ino just told her not to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Apparently, Ino thought he was taking too long as she slapped the back of his head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ow! Okay, okay.” He held the back of his head and turned back to Sakura. “Sorry for making fun of your name.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura had started to giggle at her friend's actions and had to compose herself before accepting the apology, her eyes half open as they squinted at the remnants of her laughter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As Ino dragged her friend away to look at plants and Chouji went back to relaxing against the tree, Shikamaru’s eyes followed the two girls, the memory of Sakura's green eyes, overflowing with mirth, combined with her pastel pink hair and slight smile continued replaying in his head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was right. She did look like a painting.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chakra, Deer, and Samurai</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sakura just wants to pet the deer.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ever since she was introduced to Shikamaru and Chouji, Sakura seemed to have silently included into a special circle. She and Ino still hang out with some of the girls at the playground and Sakura slowly found herself gaining more confidence and becoming more outspoken, but after everyone else had left or if there wasn't any specific plans made for the day, she'd find herself tagging along with her best friend back to the Nara grounds.</p><p> </p><p>Though they sometimes spent time at the Clearing (the “name” of the area where she first met the two boys), more often than not, they'd head straight to the Garden instead. The way they referred to these meeting places baffled Sakura. After all, the “Garden” was almost as large as a park, fenced off and connected to both the Main House and the Nara Forest. The only time she had seen a garden that huge was when her parents brought her along to meet their client, but she was told that their client was <em> special</em>. She wondered if it meant that Ino’s family’s greenhouse was of the same size, not like the small glass houses that she saw near the hospital.</p><p> </p><p>Sakura was so excited to go to the Nara lands today! Before, it was just another place to spend time with Ino, but the last time they went, Sakura spied a few deer peering out at them from within the shade of the trees. She even saw a fawn! A BABY DEER!</p><p> </p><p>She had tried moving closer to maybe possibly pet it, but their ears had twitched, neck raised to look at her before they darted off into the shadows, not coming out even after she tried the chakra feeding thing that Shikamaru instructed her to do.</p><p> </p><p>But today was the day! She resolved to herself, hands clenched into fists. Today, she's <em> sure </em> that she'd be able to get one of the deer to allow her to touch them.</p><p> </p><p>Ino just muffled her giggles as she walked alongside the pink-haired girl. Sakura's expressions were always so funny. And you could always tell what she was thinking just by looking at her face.</p><p> </p><p>They finally reached the Garden, Ino pushing open the fence as they went in to meet up with Shikamaru, who, predictably, was lying on the grass and staring up at the clouds. Before Ino reached out to shake him, Sakura moved over so that her shadow blocked his cloud gazing. It was a tactic that often informed her whether or not he was sleeping with his eyes open. Better for him to wake up with her nudging him lightly than with Ino violently pulling him up. She needed him to be in a helpful mood today.</p><p> </p><p>Luckily, he squinted at them when the dark silhouette shaded his face, which means he was alert enough to sit up by himself by the time the blonde had a grasp of his shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you two want <em> now </em>? I just finished dealing with my mom's list of demands so just leave me here to rest.” He groused, internally saying goodbye to his peaceful afternoon.</p><p> </p><p>“You promised to help us with the chakra thing again today!” Sakura exclaimed, the past months of listening to the young InoShikaCho had desensitized her to the quirks of her three new friends. And with Shikamaru, you always had to be forceful to get your way, “I want to be able to play with them.”</p><p> </p><p>“Just go near the woods and feed your chakra to the ground or the trees or whatever. They'll come to you once they're more comfortable with your chakra. Now go away, I want to get a nap in before Chouji gets back for dinner.” He punctuated his instructions with a wave towards the shadowed forest nearest to them and then laid back down on the grass, an arm covering his eyes signifying that today's lesson was over.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on, Sakura,” Ino pushed her shoulders, directing her towards the looming branches overcasting the flat grassland, “I'm sure we can make it work without lazy ass over there.”</p><p> </p><p>Sakura looked back nervously at the Nara boy, uncertain if they would be welcomed by the animals without him with them. But he seemed unconcerned so maybe the deer were friendly towards non-clan members.</p><p> </p><p>The moment her foot touched the thick tree roots that grew out from the soil, she braked, causing Ino to stop behind her as well.</p><p> </p><p>She peered into the shadows, trying to catch a glimpse of a brown coat or dark antlers to no avail.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on, Sakura!” Ino bumped against her shoulder, her hands already touching the bark. “Follow me.”</p><p> </p><p>Sakura copied her friend and placed her palms on the rough wood, careful not to let any stray splinters scratch her hand, concentrating as she followed Ino’s instructions.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, so from what dad told me, you have to look for the energy which is around your tummy. And then you have to push that energy out to wherever you want it to go. We have to be careful, though, dad said if we push too much out, the chakra would damage the tree and Uncle might not let us come back for a while if that happens.”</p><p> </p><p>“Should we not do it then?” Sakura had nodded along until the warning at the end, now more concerned that she'd accidentally make a mistake that would get Shikamaru’s dad mad at them. </p><p> </p><p>“Don't worry! Dad said that we don't have enough chakra now to be able to destroy something like this!” Ino had conveniently tuned out the “Don't do this when I'm not around” warning that her father tried to instill in her.</p><p> </p><p>“How do we know if it's too much then?” As much as she wanted to play with the deer, she didn't know how much chakra she had to give for them to come near her.</p><p> </p><p>“Ummm…” Ino bobbed her head side to side slowly as she tried to remember what she was told. “I think we're supposed to <em> feel </em> the tree's chakra? Maybe let's just see if we can get to the tree's chakra and decide if we want to push our own out.”</p><p> </p><p>It was typical of Ino to charge straight through any problems to reach the end goal. But there was nothing to lose so she gave an affirmative and they both tried connecting to the tree's chakra.</p><p> </p><p>Sakura closed her eyes and tried to sense the chakra. It was energy, right? She tried blocking out the sounds and feelings around her to see if she could detect it. Gradually, she could feel a light periodic thump coming from her hands, the beat becoming more coherent as she narrowed her focus to that one point. She initially thought it was her own heartbeat but it followed a different rhythm, much more slower and steady.</p><p> </p><p>The overall energy felt <em> weird </em> though. The beat that she found was consistent. However, while the entire tree was beating, it’s energy flowed from the roots all the way to each individual leaf. Also, the way it moved was similar to water but super slow and sludgy, heavy...like…like...mud! That was it, the energy felt like mud moving up and down its veins.</p><p> </p><p>Now that she's sort of got a handle on it, she tried getting the energy bubbling within her to copy it. It was tough because her own energy moved too fast, like a faucet that was set to maximum speed. She pulled it back until she could match the calm flow and lightly pushed that flow from her body to her fingertips.</p><p> </p><p>She was about to push it out more when suddenly the tree latched on to her chakra on her fingers and siphoned it. She was so surprised that she didn't stop her chakra’s movement, allowing the plant to continue absorbing the energy from their connection.</p><p> </p><p>“- a long time to be able to do it.” The end of a spoken sentence abruptly cut off her focus, bringing back the sights and sound of the world around her.</p><p> </p><p>With the lack of her focal point, she fell down on the grass in a tired slump, causing Ino and Shikamaru to suddenly turn to her in concern. Her entire body was lethargic, she never felt like this even when she didn't sleep during a sleepover at her cousin's.</p><p> </p><p>“I did it.” She gave them a strained smile, forcing her shaking hands to keep her sitting up. Ino looked close to giving a full blown lecture when a crunch of leaves took their attention.</p><p> </p><p>It was the fawn that Sakura had seen yesterday. It cautiously emerged from the shadows and took tiny steps, its nose lightly sniffing at her hair when it reached her. She wanted to put her hand up to touch it, but if she moved one arm, she was sure that she'd just fall down on the grass.</p><p> </p><p>The other two children just stood there frozen, trying to process what was happening. It was when Sakura's head nearly lulled to the side in exhaustion that Ino recovered, ordering Shikamaru to carry her and bring her over to his parents.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Chakra Exhaustion.</p><p> </p><p>That was the explanation Nara-san - <em> call me Yoshino, Sakura-chan! </em>- gave her. Apparently, they should not be playing with their chakra because they didn't have a lot and using it all up could be very dangerous.</p><p> </p><p>After Sakura was given food to recover her chakra and the three of them were chastised by Yoshino, the two girls for messing around with chakra and Shikamaru for leaving them by themselves, Shikaku asked Sakura how she was able to connect her chakra to the tree.</p><p> </p><p>“The trees in our forests have very faint chakra because the shadows form a protective layer around it. It's not easy to sense the chakra hiding within.”</p><p> </p><p>Sakura had explained it as best as she could while Ino spoke about how she couldn't feel anything aside from the rough bark and Shikamaru complained how it took him <em> weeks </em> to even detect the chakra inside the tree because the shadows were too strong.</p><p> </p><p>“Hmmm…” The Nara clan head hummed as he gazed contemplatively at the contrite girl. “It's possible that you're either very sensitive to chakra or have an earth or water chakra nature.”</p><p> </p><p>“People sensitive to chakra can easily pinpoint chakra in other living creatures, those with this skill usually make very good sensors or medic nins. Those with earth or water natures often find it easier to connect with trees, as the trees <em> are </em> a combination of water and earth.” Shikaku explained upon seeing the interested look on the two girls’ faces. Even his son, who feigned indifference by napping at the table, had one eye slightly opened to focus on him.</p><p> </p><p>“However,” His voice sharpened in rebuke, “you shouldn't be using your chakra until you're of age to enter the academy unless you have an adult supervising you, is that understood?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hai, hai.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, oji-san.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, Nara-sama.”</p><p> </p><p>Shikaku smiled indulgently, sharing a speaking look to his wife above the children's heads. The difference between the three of them was cute.</p><p> </p><p>“And you can call me Nara-san, Sakura.” He relaxed his tone now that the lecture was over. “I hope your experience won't scare you from coming back to visit. With the forest knowing your chakra, that little fawn might come looking for you if you don't visit.”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course Sakura will come back! She's managed to get the deer to come over to her!” Ino answered instantly, looking at her friend expectantly, her smile growing at Sakura's enthusiastic nod.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll make sure to come visit them!” Sakura replied cheerfully. “And the Garden is wonderful! It's the second largest one I've seen.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’ve seen a larger one?” Ino asked her in surprise. Yes, the Aburame had larger compounds to support all the different insect ecosystems, but only the Nara had two large patches of grasslands to support their deer population.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, yes. Papa brought me along when we visited Furuya-san up north.”</p><p> </p><p>Yoshino had paused in her cleaning when she heard the name Furuya. It was a rare enough surname that it was obvious to who it referred to. Furuya Kazuto or Furuya Kazuki, the daimyou and his younger brother.</p><p> </p><p>The glint on her husband's eye showed that he had followed her train of thought, mildly asking the girl on the nature of her father's work. Shikamaru, noticing the sudden interest on his parent's side, also gave the conversation his full attention. At least, as full as he can give while faking being asleep at the table.</p><p> </p><p>Sakura, wanting to please her hosts who helped her this afternoon, went on to explain that her father did a lot of pottery, specialising in porcelain, and that he would often get special requests from people where he'd have to visit different locations. And that they'd only settled in Konoha the previous year after that visit to Furuya-san.</p><p> </p><p>She was about to continue when a knock on the door grabbed everyone's attention. Yoshino went to answer it but quickly came back in.</p><p> </p><p>“Sakura-chan, someone called Inoue-san looking for you.” Her voice was pleasant enough, but the stiff set of her shoulders showed her discomfort. So Shikaku stood up from the table and followed the children as they went to send Sakura off.</p><p> </p><p>When he reached the entrance, he realised what caused his wife such concern.</p><p> </p><p>A samurai. In Konoha. That he wasn't informed of.</p><p> </p><p>It seemed that neither side wanted to make a scene in front of the children. As Inoue, if that was even his true name, leaned down to pick up Sakura after she had said her goodbyes to her friends.</p><p> </p><p>As the samurai turned to leave, their eyes met and Shikaku knew that it wouldn't be the last time they'd see each other.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I thought I knew where this plot was going but not anymore. </p><p>Is there any impact of Sakura learning to access chakra so young? Is Shikaku concerned that a non-Nara manages to bond with one of their fawns? Will the samurai meeting be an actual plot point? WHO KNOWS? Certainly not me.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chance Meetings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The kids enjoy a day at the festival while the adults are dealing with headache inducing problems.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was the night of the Tsukimi festival that Sakura and the younger InoShikaCho trio were wandering around the market square. Well, Sakura and Ino were wandering around looking at the cute hand-made crafts and trinkets, leaving Shikamaru to accompany Chouji as the Akamichi was aiming to try all the foods at the festival. </p><p> </p><p>“It's the <em> harvest festival</em>!” He had exclaimed, his eyes shined blindingly and mouth almost drooling in anticipation. “This is the time where all the seasonal ingredients are the freshest!”</p><p> </p><p>The girls had joined them for the first five stalls but they quickly got full from the deep fried foods and desserts so they went off on their own.</p><p> </p><p>Shikamaru slouched as he watched his friend order some Oden, keeping another eye out for the bright colours of the two girls’ hair. He could almost <em> hear </em> the lecture his mother would give if they lost each other in the crowd.</p><p> </p><p>By the time Chouji came back, the two girls were still browsing the omamori shop. He wondered what was so interesting that would take them so long, absently grabbing a toothpick with a quail egg, ignoring his best friend's squawk of protest. He tried getting more food while they walked, but he only managed to get one konjaku before Chouji switched hands to keep the food away.</p><p> </p><p>Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he gazed up at the full moon. He really wanted to just stay at home but his parents were away for some “alone time” so needed to get some food before going back. </p><p> </p><p>“Chouji! Shikamaru!”</p><p> </p><p>They both looked over and saw Chouji’s dad waving at them from the pop-up ramen stand. When Chouji moved over to join his father, Shikamaru sneakily stole a stick of dango from his friend’s hands, mentioning off-handedly that he'd go get the girls and come back to join them.</p><p> </p><p>He was chewing on one ball when he noticed Ino and Sakura acting weird. They were hiding behind a store sign trailing after something.</p><p> </p><p>“What's up?” He spoke when he was right behind them, causing the two girls to shriek in surprise. He immediately ducked to avoid the swipe of Ino’s hand, but didn't have enough dexterity to also get out of the way of Sakura's foot. The kick sent pain tingling up his leg that he sucked in his breath and had to bite his lip to prevent from yelping, the other two high fiving at the hit.</p><p> </p><p>“Sakura, let’s go. They’re moving!” Ino whisper-yelled at the pink-haired girl, standing on tiptoes to look beyond their immediate vicinity, before maneuvering around her and going off. Sakura had turned to follow, but paused a bit and looked back at him.</p><p> </p><p>“Ino wanted to show me someone. We’re trying not to get caught.” She leaned in, trying to share the secret. He had tilted his head to hear, goosebumps spreading at the whisper of her breath against his neck.</p><p> </p><p>With the information passed, she then went to chase after the blonde. It was only after she turned the corner that he realised the dango was no longer on his hand. </p><p> </p><p><em> “Troublesome</em>.” He grumbled as he ambled after them. They were supposed to be having <em> dinner</em>, not go on some weird stalking hunt on whichever poor soul Ino decided was worth her time.</p><p> </p><p>He found them crouched behind a set of unlit lanterns, not even noticing that the owner was giving them a stern side-eye, probably worried they’d break the merchandise. They turned to look at him when he neared, the girls shushing him when his shoes crunched against the gravel while the owner just turned the glare onto him as though saying <em> Get them away from here</em>. Why did he always turn out to be at the receiving end of things? It’s not like he was their keeper.</p><p> </p><p>“Who are you stalking now?” He sighed, looking around at the opposite stalls to see who could have gotten their full attention.</p><p> </p><p>“Sasuke-kun!” Ino squealed silently, her eyes shining in excitement.</p><p> </p><p>“Where one is he, Ino?” Sakura's eyes were jumping from person to person, wondering which one her friend had a crush on.</p><p> </p><p>“Him! There!” Ino pointed with force, causing the shop owner to tense as she nearly poked her hand <em> through </em> the paper lantern.</p><p> </p><p>The three kids followed the finger to a child that had his back to them, his spiky black hair standing out from the sea of colours. The boy was browsing some of the festival games, his head slightly tilting towards them as he signaled and waved to his older companion. He made quite a picture with his face half-turned and the festival lights shining on him as he grinned up at the older boy.</p><p> </p><p>“So cuuuuute.” Sakura whispered to Ino, her eyes riveted at the scene.</p><p> </p><p>“I know, right?! We’re going to be together one day. I can <em> feel </em> it!” Ino proclaimed.</p><p> </p><p>“Troublesome.” Shikamaru interrupted their flailing with a grumble. “You came all this way just to chase after a boy?”</p><p> </p><p>“He’s not <em> just </em> a boy, Shika! He’s my future boyfriend! You’re just jealous because he’s cuter than you. Right, Sakura?”</p><p> </p><p>Sakura stood beside Ino in camaraderie, head nodding furiously as she kept trying to get another glimpse of Sasuke. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m not jealous. And besides, no one’s going to want to be with a girl as loud as you.”</p><p> </p><p>And that sentence was apparently the last straw, Ino launched herself at Shikamaru to give him a piece of her mind. But the impromptu movement shocked Sakura, who fell back to the ground. Which in turn, caused Ino to trip over the extended foot and had her head smack forcefully against Shikamaru’s chest. The chain reaction caused them to squash the paper lanterns they were hiding behind, making the owner screech at them in anger.</p><p> </p><p>By the time the dust settled and they got back up, they were already the center of the crowd’s attention. All three were standing with head bowed as they were chastised by the owner.</p><p> </p><p>Sakura looked to the side, hoping that no one she knew was witnessing this embarrassment when emerald met onyx. It was Sasuke, staring curiously right at her. She could feel her face heat up at the gaze, but couldn’t bring herself to look away. </p><p> </p><p>Shikamaru frowned when he noticed them looking at each other, not understanding why it made something within him churn at the scene. He shifted a little to almost hover over Sakura, which caught Sasuke's attention. The Uchiha then turned away from them at the sight of the Nara’s scowl.</p><p> </p><p>Sakura had no chance to look behind her because the owner bellowed his lecture all over again upon noticing them not listening to him.</p><p> </p><p>By the time they finally got away, the Uchiha was long gone, much to the dismay of the two girls and the relief of Shikamaru. </p><p> </p><p>“Why did you have to open your mouth, Shika! It's your fault we lost him!”</p><p> </p><p>Of course, Ino wasted no time in blaming him for the issue, even though she was the one that tried to tackle him. Sakura was of no help, she was on Ino’s side on this. They could have spent the rest of the evening finding out what Sasuke liked. After all, he looked at her!</p><p> </p><p>“I don't understand what you see in him. He's just a kid like us.” Never let it be said that Shikamaru was the type to just accept being blamed.</p><p> </p><p>“He's an <em> Uchiha</em>. I'm sure he'll be the best ninja in our class the moment we start the academy. He'll be cute, smart, <em> and </em>strong.”</p><p> </p><p>Sakura's eyes widened at the information. The Uchiha were that cool?</p><p> </p><p>“Then he's still not going to be as good as his brother, if he's in our class.” Shikamaru muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and turning away from them, ready to get this conversation over with.</p><p> </p><p>Before Ino could defend her crush, Sakura gently tugged Shikamaru’s sleeve, forcing him to stop and look exasperatedly at her, the fight leaving his body at the expectant look levelled at him.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you mean? Why won't he be the best?”</p><p> </p><p>“If we're in the same class, it means we start the academy at the same age. His older brother was already a genin at our age and a chunin by 9.”</p><p> </p><p>Ino and Sakura were in awe as they digested that fact. Someone who was already considered an adult at their age….</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, how did you know all this?” Sakura asked. “Are you already being taught by your dad? Does that mean you can teach us too?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah! You should share what you know! And I can't believe you know Sasuke's brother and didn't tell us!”</p><p> </p><p>“I only found out because the Uchiha clan leader has been coming by quite often. Sometimes his son comes along so I asked about them.”</p><p> </p><p>“Eeeeh?” Ino hadn't heard her dad say anything about this. Her eyes sparkled as she realized. It must be a secret! “What did they talk about? When did they start coming over?”</p><p> </p><p>“Don't know. <em> Otou-san </em> didn't tell me anything except about the brother.  And they started coming over since the chakra incident.”</p><p> </p><p>Ino puffed her cheeks in a pout at the answer. Just her luck that secret things were happening at the lazy boy's house. She bet he didn't even <em> try </em> to get more information.</p><p> </p><p>Sakura, left out of the loop, looked at the two of them and asked what was so special about them visiting.</p><p> </p><p>“I didn't hear <em> Tou-chan </em> speak about it!” Ino explained excitedly, “That means it's a <em> secret</em>. Which means we have to figure it out!”</p><p> </p><p>Just as Sakura’s eyes started sparkling at the thought of uncovering a mystery, a deep voice  joined their conversation.</p><p> </p><p>“If it's a secret, it means you're not supposed to poke your nose into it. Or talk about it so loudly.”</p><p> </p><p>They all looked up to see Inoichi smiling down at them indulgently, his hands on his hips in a facsimile of a rebuking adult.</p><p> </p><p>“OTOU-CHAN!” Ino whined when she was picked up. “You can't keep secrets from me!”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course I can't. I won't get any sleep if I tried.” Inoichi readily agreed before facing the other two kids. “Shikamaru, Chouza’s waiting for you at the ramen place. I'll be taking Sakura and Ino home today.”</p><p> </p><p>Shikamaru gave an agreeing nod and left them with a wave, happy at finally having some quiet time away from the two girls.</p><p> </p><p>“Sakura-chan,” Inoichi looked down to address the pink haired girl, “Where do you live? We can take you home first.”</p><p> </p><p>“Ummm….” Sakura didn't know how to answer. She was told that she shouldn't leave the festival area but Yamanaka-san was Ino’s dad so she should tell him, right?</p><p> </p><p>Luckily, Ino came to her rescue.</p><p> </p><p>“Sakura lives at the Hashirama district but she needs to stay here. Someone will come pick her up when it's time to go home.”</p><p> </p><p>“Someone?”</p><p> </p><p>“Ah! Yuki-san always picks me up when it's time to go home.” Sakura was more than willing to provide the information if it means that she didn't break Yuki-san’s rule.</p><p> </p><p>“He's that guy, right? The one who came to Oji-san’s house. Is he here now?” Ino placed a finger against her chin and looked around, hoping that her taller vantage will let her find the navy-haired babysitter.</p><p> </p><p>“Mm-hm!” Sakura nodded, “I dunno where he is. He just appears when we're done.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, Sakura-chan. We can't really just leave you here. Let me see if we can get someone to wait with you until your guardian arrives.”</p><p> </p><p>Inoichi let out three small pulses of chakra, eyes observing his surroundings as he did so. Ino, as expected, relaxed as the familiar feel of her father's chakra blanketed her. Sakura, interestingly, furrowed her eyebrows as she felt the energy wash over her. Children that young are usually not that sensitive to chakra unless it's from family members. He put a pin on that thought when one of the patrol Uchihas arrived.</p><p> </p><p>The young lady introduced herself as Haruka and was perfectly willing to watch over Sakura until she was picked up. She knelt down and quietly asked Sakura if she was allowed to carry her, only reaching out when Sakura gave the affirmative.</p><p> </p><p>When Sakura tried to get a firm grip on the lady's shoulder, she was warned not to touch the elaborate braid, as Haruka used some senbon to keep the hair in place.</p><p> </p><p>This then started an entire conversation with the two younger girls about hairstyles with senbon vs just using a ribbon or hairband.</p><p> </p><p>“Sakura!” They all turned to the caller when they reached the main market area. </p><p> </p><p>It was apparently Yuki-san, since Sakura called out his name. The man had his long hair loose and swaying in the breeze compared to the high ponytail he sported during the chakra incident. He was wearing a plain light blue yukata, that was messily tied with a navy blue obi. </p><p> </p><p>He gave the group a small smile when he neared and lifted Sakura off Haruka’s hands, thanking them for spending time with his charge. The entire image he gave felt off to Inoichi. The soft eyes and light smile with the carefree aura. It was different from the serious and alert individual that Shikaku described.</p><p> </p><p>Apparently, his suspicions were quite obvious as once the little girls said their goodbyes, the grey eyes that met his gaze sent shivers up his spine. The drastic shift from molten silver to cold steel was so minute, that if he wasn't alert, he would have missed it completely.</p><p> </p><p>A glance to his right showed that Haruka also caught the shift, her form tensing as she bored holes at the back of the strange man. Inoue Yuki. It seems they might have to dig a bit more into him. Someone who could feel <em> that </em> comfortable in silently threatening two clan heads in their own village was either too foolish for their own good or someone skilled or connected enough to not fear any repercussions. And he had the feeling that this stranger was the latter.</p><p> </p><p>With Sakura gone, Inoichi made his way back home after making sure Haruka reported the meeting to both Fugaku and Shikaku, distracting Ino whenever necessary. His daughter was like a bloodhound when secrets were involved. And, true to form, she sometimes barked really loud on things best left hidden.</p><p> </p><p>But that was fine. They were still children and should be allowed to have as much of their childhood be free of ninja worries for as long as possible.</p><p> </p><p>He patted Ino’s head when the girl gave him a goodnight hug and kiss before padding off to her bedroom, his mind going over all the information he received tonight.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Sakura lives at the Hashirama district.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “She can't come over and play tomorrow because her parents have important guests coming.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Yuki-san is so cool! Sometimes he shows up with a sword. Do you think he knows how to use it?” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Yes, the children didn't need to be dragged into this. The amount of information, or lack thereof, that Shikaku and Fugaku have been digging up since that samurai appeared was mind boggling. What should have been an open and shut case of just retrieving someone's immigration paperwork became a spiderweb of confusion.</p><p> </p><p>Missing paperwork, unstamped mission reports, people going MIA. Every clue they found just brought up 10 more questions. T&amp;I was working round the clock with tactical and the Police Force to piece together this unraveling puzzle.</p><p> </p><p>Something was rotten in Konoha and he wasn't going to allow it to fester and reach their children's generation.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This chapter was hell to write.</p><p>Also, we're going to be figuring out this mystery the same time as the adults. Cuz I literally have 0 clues where this is going.</p><p>What's the deal with all these missing stuff? What does Sakura's family have to do with it? How is the Samurai connected to all this?</p><p>I don't know and neither does Inoichi, Shikaku, or Fugaku.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>